Nigeria's D'Tigers Crash Out of Olympics After Throwing Away a 7-point Lead in Heartbreaking Defeat to Italy

Nigeria's D'Tigers Crash Out of Olympics After Throwing Away a 7-point Lead in Heartbreaking Defeat to Italy

  • D'Tigers have crashed out of Tokyo 2020 Olympics as they suffer their third straight loss in the competition
  • Nigeria lost 80-71 to Italy after leading with seven points at some point in the game
  • D'Tigers will now turn their attention to the FIBA Afrobasket competition set to commence next month in Rwanda

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Nigeria's D'Tigers have crashed out of Tokyo 2020 Olympics after losing 80-71 to Italy in their final group game of the tournament.

The Nigeria male basketball side needed to beat Italy by atleast nine points and hope Australia defeat Germany in the other group game to stand a chance of qualifying to the next round.

Tokyo 2020: Nigeria's D’Tigers Crash Out After Defeat To Italy
Nigeria's D’Tigers crash out of Tokyo 2020 Olympics after defeat to Italy. Photo: Nigeriabasketball
Source: Getty Images

But they couldn't get the job done as the Italians took the first quarter 29-22. However, Nigeria fought back in the second quarter and cut Italy's lead to one point as the halftime scoreboard read 40-39 in favour of the Europeans.

At the end of the third quarter, D’Tigers led 63-56 to rekindle the hope of a comeback but again a fourth-quarter collapse just like in their game Australia ensured Italy secured victory as the game finished 80-71.

D'Tigers were impressive in exhibition games before Olympics

Led by coach Mike Brown, D'Tigers had many Nigerians believe they were medal hopefuls going into the Olympics after they defeated both Argentina and the USA in friendly games before Tokyo 2020.

D'Tigers were ranked 4th team for the Olympics prior to their arrival.

What's next for D'Tigers

Nigeria's D'Tigers will now turn their attention to the FIBA Afrobasket competition set to commence next month in Rwanda.

Africa's flagship basketball tournament will take place in the Rwandan capital Kigali from August 25 to September 4.

Nigeria are in Group C alongside Kenya, Ivory Coast and Mali.

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that former Nigerian basketball legend, Olumide Oyedeji, while reacting to the results of the team at the Olympics, insisted that friendlies are definitely different from the real competition.

The 40-year-old who won gold medal with the country's national basketball team at the 2015 FIBA Africa Championship believes the reality of the game quickly settled in after the competition started.

Oyedeji also won bronze medals at the 2005 and 2011 editions of the champions in Algeria and Madagascar.

Source: Legit.ng

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